Nepal 360: Building Back Better?

360-degree videos are a new technology in which views in every direction are recorded at the same time, using an omnidirectional camera or a collection of cameras. At its best, it can give viewers an immersive, on-the-spot experience akin to virtual reality. As part of OneWorld Features’ project of supplying Swedish newspapers, magazines and online outlets with dispatches by African, Asian and Latin American journalists, we decided to try it out.

This is the result, filmed in Nepal two years after an earthquake in 2015 killed some 9,000 people, and destroyed more than 500,000 homes and 8,000 schools. The 360-degree video report looks at what it’s like for some of the millions of children trying to rebuild their lives from temporary shelters and classrooms.

It was produced as a collaboration between OneWorld and the Stockholm-based Blank Spot Project.

We are currently exploring the possibility of making two more such immersive videos with local journalists, to gain experience of the technology and to test the market for this innovative form of reporting.